Russian citizens Yana Strizheus and Alexei Slabinsky, who were renting a house on Phuket and had been living there for almost a year, went missing March 7

Police officers at Phuket (archive)

BANGKOK, April 14. /ITAR-TASS/. The remains found in the jungle on Thailand’s Phuket island belong to Russian Alexei Slabinsky. Forensic experts draw this conclusion after a DNA test, local police representative Arun Keiworti told journalists on Monday.

He added that the identity of the murdered was also confirmed upon image of his denture taken earlier in one of Phuket’s hospitals, where Slabinsky sought dental aid.

The man’s body was found on the island in late March, not far from the place where the Russians’ alleged kidnappers rent a villa. It turned out impossible to identify the body after almost three weeks in tropical climate. “We have been notified about the DNA test results by forensic experts from Surat Thani province, where samples for the test were sent. The test’s results haven’t returned to the police officially,” the spokesperson said. He added that the cause of Slabinsky’s death remains not established.

Russian citizens Yana Strizheus and Alexei Slabinsky, who were renting a house on Phuket and had been living there for almost a year, went missing March 7. Their relatives claimed about their disappearance. According to the investigation, delinquents kidnapped the Russians and kept them for some time on their rented villa. The reason for kidnapping was allegedly Slabinsky’s debts.

Strizheus spent several days on the villa, where the kidnappers were abusing her. Later, the woman was brought to one of the island’s hotels and left there. According to the police, she attempted a suicide in the hotel, but was saved by the hotel’s staff.

The suspects are two Russian citizens, one of which entered Thailand with a fake Ukrainian passport.